Media Moves… TheMediaOnline’s weekly round up. MediaCom strengthens global business development with OMG’s Jon Gittings hired as strategy officer. Walter Mokoena new sports anchor at e.tv’s Sunrise. Melissa Willis appointed marketing manager for PMG. Ask Afrika appoints a new executive chairman. New RamsayMedia board appointed. Mark Kritzinger appointed as Isobar development director, Sub-Saharan Africa. Ad Dynamo partners with Twitter to bring Twitter Ads to South African brands. Wunderbrand welcomes ‘brand new Africa’. An innovative industry first for Cipla Medpro.
Who’s moved where
MediaCom strengthens global business development with OMG’s Jon Gittings hired as strategy officer
MediaCom has announced a major new hire in its drive to further cement its industry leading global business development success. Jon Gittings, who was previously global communications planning director at OMG, has joined MediaCom as global business development strategy officer.
Based in New York, his new role will see him report into global chief business development and marketing officer Toby Jenner. Gittings will be responsible for creating and delivering consistent, cutting-edge global strategic responses, which reflect the agency’s content and connections positioning for both new and existing clients.
Previous roles at OMG include head of strategy for global accounts in EMEA, European strategy director at OMD International, and head of strategy and insight at Manning Gottlieb OMD in the UK, where he and his team won numerous headline awards from the IPA, Campaign and Media Week.
Walter Mokoena new sports anchor at e.tv’s Sunrise
e.tv’s morning breakfast show, Sunrise, has introduced Walter Mokoena as the new Sport Anchor. Walt-HA!, as he is commonly known, joins the channel ahead of the 2014 Soccer World Cup in June 2014.
Mokeoena comes with a wealth of experience within the industry, having spent a few years in France where he was instrumental during the African Cup of Nation for Trace’s TV Sports division. He also worked on the opening and closing of the World Cup matches in 2010.
“I am excited to join e.tv and I look forward to working with the team to further develop their already extensive suite. I am fortunate to be joining such a respected organisation that prides itself in producing quality service,” said Mokoena.
Melissa Willis appointed marketing manager for PMG
Melissa Willis has been appointed to the position of Marketing Manager ProActive and Airport Ads at Provantage Media Group.
Willis has been in the marketing industry for eight years and has worked for various brands in South Africa and abroad. She has a marketing degree from the University of Pretoria, for which she received a bursary. After completing her studies, she moved to London where she started her marketing career at Samsung Electronics.
“I personally love brands that live out a conscious value systems and that don’t just focus on the bottom line, but rather on other elements that make a business tick and resonate with the consumer. Consumers have rightfully become a lot savvier and looking forward, brands that are driven by purpose, people and the planet will carry significant weight,” says Willis.
Ask Afrika appoints a new executive chairman
Ken McArthur has been appointed as executive chairman at Ask Afrika. He has extensive experience in the market research industry and was the MD of Nielsen for ten years. During this time he formed a separate division for Media as per the global Nielsen standard. McArthur was the Senior Vice President for World-Wide Marketing for CIC Video International, a joint venture between Paramount and Universal Studios, based in London with line responsibility for Australasia for four years. He has held numerous positions in senior management and marketing both locally and in London.
“Ask Afrika is growing and we are launching an array of new products this year. Ken McArthur is the perfect person to steer our company into exciting, unchartered waters in South Africa as we continue to expand. I am delighted that we found a leader of his calibre to welcome to our team,” said Andrea Rademeyer, CEO and founder of Ask Afrika.
New RamsayMedia Board established
RamsayMedia’s chief operating officer, Werner Schmidt, has been appointed to the Board of Directors, the company has announced. He joins Terry Moolman, Tim Holden and Cornelios Vamdelis – the new Board established after Caxton’s purchase of the family-owned media business late last year.
Schmidt joined RamsayMedia as an accountant in 1998. He was promoted to Financial Manager in 2006 and Chief Financial Officer two years later. He was made COO last year, and has been extensively involved in the transition to new ownership.
Caxton held a 30% shareholding in RamsayMedia for several years before buying the balance of the shares in November 2013. The deal received approval from the Competitions Commission in March. It ended 81 years of operation as an independent business that saw the involvement of four generations in RamsayMedia.
Mark Kritzinger appointed as Isobar development director, Sub-Saharan Africa
Mark Kritzinger has been appointed as the Development Director SSA, Isobar. He will manage and lead the digital strategy of Isobar across the various African markets. Kritzinger has vast experience in operations management and execution, with an innovative history in digital, Out-of-Home, Search Marketing and holds an MBA in Strategy, Innovation and Operations.
Who’s won what
Ad Dynamo partners with Twitter to bring Twitter Ads to South African brands
Ad Dynamo has been appointed by Twitter as its exclusive ad sales partner in South Africa. Brands and marketing agencies can now work closely with a local team to make the most of their Twitter activity.
Twitter is live, public, conversational and widely distributed. The platform has more than 255 million active users and is used by brands worldwide to engage with existing customers and reach new audiences. South African companies are already using Twitter to listen to their customers and market themselves organically, with early adopters like MTN (@MTNza) and Cell C (@cellc) amplifying these efforts with Twitter’s Ad Products.
“Companies have been on Twitter since day one. People come to the platform to connect with what they’re interested in, whether that is a sports team, musician, or brand. By targeting Twitter conversations and engagements based on these interests, brands have the opportunity to grow their communities, tell their story, increase loyalty and ultimately increase referrals and sales”, said Ali Jafari, Twitter’s vice president of direct sales for EMEA. “The South African market is an especially good fit for Twitter given the high percentage of mobile usage and we are excited to be partnering with Ad Dynamo to bring Twitter ads to local advertisers.”
“Every brand has a story,” said Sean Riley, CEO of Ad Dynamo. “And Twitter can help share yours. Brands that are finding it challenging to cut through the clutter and connect with their customers are using Twitter to create meaningful, targeted and measurable interactions with the right people at the right moment in time.”
Who’s making moves
Wunderbrand welcomes ‘brand new Africa’
Wunderbrand’s upcoming anniversary marks a successful first year of delivering world-class brand communications across the continent. To mark this they are moving into their group headquarters in the 44 Stanley precinct.
Launched in May 2013, the brand and communications consultancy has helped South African brands expand throughout the continent and equipped them with inspired, locally relevant content. With a keen eye on indigenous African creativity, Wunderbrand offer a full communications solution from brand and digital strategy to print and production support.
An innovative industry first for Cipla Medpro
Cipla Medpro, one of South Africa’s fastest growing pharmaceutical companies, selected a PocketMedia® Solutions’ Z-CARDBottle Hang to use as a South African industry first.
The Bottle Hangs were hung as ‘tree hangs’ on a custom-made tree that Cipla incorporated on their exhibition stand at the 16th International Congress of Infectious Diseases held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in April. The tree was central to their “Conservation/Green” theme, highlighting the importance of conserving antibiotics as well as first-line antiretroviral therapy.
“Cipla Medpro selected the Z-CARD® Bottle Hangs as they presented an innovative alternative for getting maximum exposure of product information on a small area, doing away with the stacks of marketing material often used at a congress and conserving paper,” says a spokesperson from the company.
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